colleagues are really smart. they don't need a long windup. so we'll startwithjimgoodbeeand then chris nelson. the mic is coming. over there. >> thank you. well, thank you all for a terrific set of comments. you asked whether there was something left out. i think there was one point that i regard as tremendously important that was left out, and that is the closing -- at least temporarily -- of cay song. cay song complex. that, to me, is the most notable difference between this crisis and all previous ones. and at least to even ask to we really know who's in charge? who are the right people to talk to? in the early days of the kim jong un administration, there was some talk about market economy, small farmers and so forth having nor -- more rights. that's all disappeared. it that he discovered -- is it that he discovered that was something he had to back down? these are questions in my mind that i wonder if you could comment at least on the question of cay song and whether that isn't a fairly significantly difference from previous episodes we faced. thank you will have. >> jim raises a

in the united states senate joking or perhaps half jokingthatjimdemintshould run for president. this isn't exactly what i had in mind. [laughter] perhaps he misunderstood me. you know, the ting that makes jim demint a great leader is the same thing that has always made people like matt spalding and the heritage foundation itself so very valuable; that is, your shared insistence on making the positive case for conservativism, what conservatives are for. in washington it's common for both parties to succumb to easy negativity. republicans and democrats stand opposed to each other, obviously, and outspoken partisanship almost always gets the most headlines. this negativity is unappealing on pote sides, and that helps explain why the federal government is increasingly held in such low regard by the american people. but for the left the defensive crouch at least makes sense. liberalism's main purpose today is to defend itself past gains -- its past gains from conservative reform. but megativity on the right, to my mind, makes no sense at all. the left has created this false narrative that lib

by retiringsenatorjimbunting.he won decisively in the general. when he got to the senate, he quickly founded the tea party caucus. finally, for you breakfast tea party buff, a group of which i may be the only member, of our nearly 3800 breakfasts, only two times have we had both a father and a son as guests. we hosted former representative ron paul in september 2011. the only other father/son team was mitt romney and his dad, michigan governor george romney. so much for biography and breakfast trivia. now on to mechanical manners. as always, we're on the record. please, no live blogging or tweeting, in short, no filing of any kind while the breakfast is underway. there's no embargo when the breakfast is over except that c-span has agreed to the to use video of the session for at least an hour after the breakfast ends to give those of us in the room a chance to file. if you'd like to ask a question, please, do the traditional thing and send me a subtle, nonthreatening signal, and i'll happily call. we'll start off by offering our guest the opportunity to make some opening comments. an